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The Devil's Apprentice (musical)
The Devil's Apprentice (Danish: Djævelens Lærling) is a Danish language musical based on Kenneth B. Andersen's fantasy novel The Devil's Apprentice from 2005, which is the first book in the Great Devil War series, directed by Peter Langdal, with a script written by Mads Æbeløe Nielsen and the American screenwriter Philip LaZebnik (''The Prince of Egypt'', ''Pocahontas'', ''Mulan'') with lyrics and songs written by American lyricist and composer Madeline Myers. The script and songs were written in English first and then subsequently translated into Danish by Peter Langdal and Helle Hansen. The play will premiere November 1, 2018 and continue to run until November 25, 2018 on Refshaleøen in a big red tent between Refshalevej 171 and 173 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is produced by Heltemus Productions ApS, who has previously adapted Astrid Lindgren's Ronja the Robber's Daughter into a musical in 2016, produced the Danish version of the musical Into the Woods in the Glass Hall Theater in 2017 and most recently the Danish version of Green Day's American Idiot musical/concert in 2018. After the shows on Refshaleøen, the musical will begin a short tour in Jutland and play shows in Aalborg, Aarhus and Herning. Det vil komme til at foregå sidst i december 2018 - først i januar 2019 Tickets went on sale May 13, 2018. Background Story The Devil's Apprentice is a thought-provoking and comedic fantasy tale about the human boy Philip Engel, who, despite his sweetness and politeness, mistakenly ends up in Hell with the Devil. Here Philip has to be taught as the ailing Devil's heir, and against his will adapt to life among the devils, where good is a sin, and evil is celebrated. Philip falls for his new female friend Satina, and together they find clues of a conspiracy against the dark throne of Hell, which hurls them into a web of love and jealousy and hatred that force Philip's deeply buried dark sides to come to light. It is an epic story that asks questions about life and death and good and evil, free will, and the importance of them all. Production On December 17, 2017, Heltemus Productions ApS announced on their Facebook page that they would be making Djævelens Lærling, the first book in the Great Devil War, as a Danish language musical, and that it would premiere November 1, 2018. As playwrights Mads Æbeløe Nielsen and Philip LaZebnik was attached to the project. A short animated teaser showing the play's title card was published on the musical's official Facebook page on December 20, 2017 , and subsequently a longer teaser with a cinematic reenactment of one of the book's main scenes produced by Gaucho Film. On December 21, 2017 Heltemus published the cinematic teaser with narration. On May 22, 2018 the first rehearsal of the musical was held. The day after Kenneth B. Andersen announaced that the play was directed by Peter Langdal on his Facebook page, and that the actors were rehearsing. In addition a 3 week long workshop for the cast and crew began on May 23, which included coaching voices, doing song rehearsals and rehearsing the script to see if anything needed to be changed in the text. Composer and lyricist on the play, Madeline Myers, had also flown from the United States to Copenhagen to partake in the workshop, which she told about on her Instagram. The majority of the cast were already found at this time, and was announced through the play's newly launched official website on May 30, 2018, and in the more detailed official press release (in Danish), with some bigger names among both cast and crew. Among others was the musical and theatre veteran Kasper Leisner (Så længe jeg lever, Efter bryllupet, Røde Orm) who is going to star as the Devil Lucifer, as well as Torben Zeller and Søren Hauch-Fausbøll, while the main characters of the human boy Philip Engel and the devil girl Satina was given to Oscar Dietz, best known for his role as Pelle Nørhmann/Antboy in the films based on Kenneth B. Andersen's children's books, and Sofie Amalie Kronborg Christensen, best known for starring as Ronja the Robber's Daughter in Heltemus' musical based on Astrid Lindgren's classic. Among the names in the crew it was announced that the scenography would be created by Eilev Skinnarmo, who is known for several larger theatrical scenographies and production design on television, latest in the large outdoors viking play Røde Orm produced by the Royal Danish Theatre. The workshop ended on June 10, 2018. On June 1, 2018, Heltemus Production wrote in a comment on their official Facebook page that the roles of the play's antagonists Aziel Stofeles and his mother will be announced later in June. However, the Aziel's actor would not be announced until about a month later. On June 1, 2018, Heltemus wrote on the musical's official Facebook page that the roles of antagonists Aziel Stofeles and his mother would be announced later in June. As of July 1, 2018, who that will be is still not announced. Who will be playing Philip's bully Sam has not been announced either. It is also unknown if Grumske will be in the play or not. On June 26 2018, Heltemus Production confirmed on the official Facebook page of the musical that there was a "massive interest" in school performances, and announced that it is something they were purusing. On August 15, 2018, Jonas Suurballe posted a picture on his Instagram from a sound studio, and wrote that he had spent th day there recording choir bits together with two talented artists and their musical supervisor, for a promo for Djævelens lærling. On August 25, 2018, the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad printed an interview with show director Peter Langdal in relation to Djævelens lærling. On August 29, 2018, Heltemus Production anoounced on the official Facebook page of the musical that dates of school performances had been set, and in addition they had created a Facebook event for this with dates and times of the performances, as well as contact information. The school performances are going to be held on November 8 at 7 PM and on November 22 at 11 AM. The tickets cost 50 DKK a student. On September 5, 2018, through the announcement of the premiere in Musikkens Hus in Aalborg, it was announced that Aziel Stofeles was to be played by Bjarke Atterdag, who was previously said to be part of the ensemble. It is still not known who will play Aziel's mother, who will play Philip's bully Sam and who will play Grumske. On September 15, 2018, Kenneth B. Andersen posted a photo of a new poster for the musical on his official Facebook page. On September 17, 2018, Heltemus Production posted a high-resolution image of the same poster on the official Facebook page of the play. It features actors Kasper Leisner, Oscar Dietz and Sofie Amalie Kronborg Christensen without their costumes in front of a background of flames and light. On September 23, 2018, the Danish production, tent and stand-renting company Enoch Show Production wrote on their Facebook page that they would be the ones to supply the tent for the production. Specifically their so-called "Paladstelt" (Palace Tent). At the time, they had just taken down the tent in Aalborg after a show by Flying Super Kids, and was preparing to transport it across the country to Refshaleøen in Copenhagen, where The Devil's Apprentice is going to have its opening. On September 24, 2018, the rehearsals started up once again and will continue until the premiere on November 1, 2018. On the same day, Heltemus Production posted a video on the musical's Facebook page in which the main star of the show, Oscar Dietz, is interviewed and which includes a quick sneak peek at some of the original music and lyrics composed and written by Madeline Myers for the production, translated to Danish by Helle Hansen. In addition, Heltemus confirmed that rehearsals had started on that same exact day. On September 26, 2018, composer and lyricist Madeline Myers posted an image from Copenhagen on her Instagram, wtiting "CPH, do I have the musical for you!" Music The score and lyrics for the play are written by American composer and lyricist Madeline Myers, who worked as a music assistant on the musical ''Hamilton''. Instrumentation The cast will be accompanied by a 8 man live orchestra lead by conduct Mikkel Gomard. Originally only 7 musicians were planned to play at the show. Cast Crew Referencer External links * Official website * Heltemus Productions ApS' official website * Ticket sales * Kenneth B. Andersen's official website in Danish * Kenneth B. Andersen's official website in English * Kenneth B. Andersen's Facebook page * [https://www.facebook.com/djaevelenslaerling.dk/ Djævelens lærling musical's Facebook page] * Heltemus Productions ApS' Facebook page Category:The Devil's Apprentice musical